(2008-07-14) Velib Paris Bike Rent

Velib is is a Bike Rental (Sharing Goods) service in Paris. About 20,600 Velib bicycles are in service here, with more than 1,450 self-service rental stations. The stations are only some 300 yards apart, and there are four times as many as there are subway stations, even in a city so well served by its metro system.

Nov'2009 update: With 80 percent of the initial 20,600 bicycles stolen or damaged, the program's organizers have had to hire several hundred people just to fix them. And along with the dent in the city-subsidized budget has been a blow to the Parisian psyche.